Subsequently she worked as a television reporter, moderator, commentator and programme maker, achieving a number of significant "firsts for a woman" in the process.

[1][2][3] Alberta Geertruida "Ageeth" Scherphuis was born, the elder of her parents' two daughters, at Zaandam, a commercially dynamic town with a rich maritime history.

She went on to study at the "Hogere Hotelvakschool" the Hague, but broke off the course without completing it having decided, as she disclosed in a newspaper interview some year later, that she was "too independent" for a career in hotels and catering management.

During the rest of her time with De Typhoon she produced contributions on an eclectic mix of topics, amply demonstrating her journalistic aptitude.

[2] During the summer of 1956 Scherphuis was sent by her editor to report on a selection meeting being organised by AVRO who were looking for a replacement television announcer to take the place - possibly on a temporary basis - of Mies Bouwman.

On 12 September 1956, just three months after her marriage to the fighter pilot Hans de Wolff, Ageeth Scherphuis made her debut as a television announcer.

She wore a lemon-yellow dress for the occasion, which involved introducing an interview with a government minister called Leo de Block.

The Minister for Economic Affairs had apparently not planned for the technological advance with such care: his uncompromisingly dark grey suit attracted comment.

Between 1958 and 1960 she regularly featured on the role of "Announcer Ageeth" in the Mies Bouhuys television series for children, "Varen is fijner dan je denkt" (loosely, "Sailing is more fun than you think").

Between October 1966 and 1968 she presented the newly launched NTS current affairs television programme Monitor from Hilversum, alongside Philip Bloemendal.

[2] The programme "Dames gaan voor" ("Ladies go first") which she made in 1973 for the NOS was quickly withdrawn due to poor viewing figures.

Jan de Troye, who commissioned the series on behalf of the NOS, was a man: all the journalists and programme makers involved were female, however.

At its 1975 launch the series consisted of a succession of themed report programmes, but over time the format became less rigid: after 1978 it became in effect a studio-based discussion show with guests and an invited audience.

series, in 1982 Scherphuis became a contributing editor with Vrij Nederland, a rather serious and intellectual centre-left news and culture magazine, then under the direction of the charismatic Joop van Tijn.

Her contributions ranged widely, with particular emphasis on "women's questions", welfare issues and the German occupation which, a generation after its ending, continued to resonate powerfully, especially with those who had lived through it.

[2] In 2009, possibly as an indication that mainstream opinion had moved a little closer to some of the social and political causes for which she had campaigned, Scherphuis was appointed a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

It was reported at the time that a large number of the women attending his funeral each wore an identical item of jewellery, each a gift from the deceased.